Please help keep us on the road. All your money goes directly towards helping us to attend races. Thank you.

HI... Our names are Mick n Phil, Marathon Lads from
Stratford On Avon. My Dad (Mick) is a very experienced long distance
marathon runner. Occasionally, Dad has had to break off from running
because of personal circumstances, myself (Philip), as I am disabled,
suffering from Cerebral Palsy and Sodium Valproate Syndrome. Now a days,
Dad pushes me in my wheelchair around the circuits we race at. This is
because I am at my most content when on the move. My mobility is extremely
limited and I am completely dependant on my Dad for all my needs. Because
of my disability my whole family has been affected and has not been
without its challenges, mainly because I have no speech and my mum also
suffers from poor health.

Mick Says... Nursing Philip through the
years have driven my wife and I to mental breakdowns. She is now is no
longer able to cope with Phillip's extreme needs, but that is not to say
she has not a remarkable job over the years, bringing him through his
severe illness which almost cost him his life.

My wife gave me an ultimatum in early 2002, "either take
Phillip in his wheelchair running with you, or pack it all in as, as I
cannot cope any longer". Well, I can tell you now, I thought it was the
end of things, so I had a long hard think. Would the wheelchair stand up
to it? Would Phillip like it? and most importantly, could I do this whilst
pushing him? Running is hard enough at times no matter what standard you
are. This was make or break, all or nothing. We started with a 2 mile fun
run, taking 17m 45s, moved up to a 10k clocking 46m then tackled a 10
miler in a time of 1hr 48m. The final test was the full marathon where we
achieved a time of 4hr 12m. This was fantastic, we were both loving it and
quite simply, having the time of our lives. The rest they say, is
history.

We then started taking on tougher, hilly races mainly of
half marathon distance. The toughest to date is Great Langdale in Cumbria.
We have now completed this twice with a best time of 2h 45m.

Our thanks must go to all the fellow athletes who support
us in every way with kind words of support and their ideas for our racing.
All the adaptions to Phillips wheelchair and even the idea for my vest has
come from other athletes on a travels.

So far we have completed 188 races which include 12
marathons, 65 half marathons. I feel it is most important for me to say
that none of this have been possible had it not been for the race
organisers and thousands of fellow runners. We appreciate it all very
much.

YOU HAVE MADE A CHRONICALLY SICK LAD AND HIS DAD VERY
HAPPY !!!

Thank you to Graham Russel for the use of his photographs and to everyone else for
theirs. Thank you to all our fellow runners for all your help and
support. You have all made a very ill lad and his father very happy and
very proud.